Because of love
by Liloexp626
Summary: Stitch has struggled against it for years, but now he can't avoid it: he has fallen in love with Lilo. What will happen when he discovers that Lilo has no more but two weeks left to live?
1. Chapter 1

Well, here's the first chapter of a short story of maybe only four chapters (well, that's if I include Lilo's POV, but let's see what happens) It's not a master piece, but at least I think you'll enjoy it. Hope you like it _**  
**_

_**BECAUSE OF LOVE**_

"_Wise men say_

_Only __fools rush in…_

_But I can't help…_

_Falling in love with you_

_Shall I stay? Would it be a sin?_

_If I can't help… falling in love with you__…"_Click!

"_All that I want is to be near to you  
To spend my life making it clear to you  
You are my heart, my soul, my dream come true  
All that I am, I am because of you_

_Because of you  
Because of…" _Click!

"_And I love you so,  
The people ask me how,  
How I've lived till now  
I tell them I don't know…_

_I guess they understand  
how lonely life has been  
but life began again  
the day you took my hand…" _Click!

Stitch moaned as he dropped on his cot after he changed that song to the next. All those Elvis' songs he was listening had a lot of true on his own life, and that's why he was listening them (besides it was Valentine's day), because they reminded him a lot of things and thoughts he had passed through… he didn't mean to do it at first, but loneliness forced him to seek for something to do… Jumba was fixing or inventing some stuff on his room, Pleackley was watching a gossips program on TV and Nani had gone out to date David… oh, and Lilo had went out too an hour ago.

"_Lilo__..."_ that thought made him to forget everything else he was thinking about. He thought on that little girl he had met 10 years ago, and thought about how that little girl became a teenager quickly. Her chubby and short shape of a little girl had been replaced for the slim and well-formed shape of a teen. His best friend wasn't a little girl anymore… on a few years more she would become a beautiful woman… indeed, she was beautiful: black, silky hair that cascaded down her shoulders, large, slim legs, thin waist, soft and tan skin, flushed cheeks, a tall, thin body… of course, he liked her looks, but he had started to feel something especial about her before her teenager features appeared, when she was still ten or maybe eleven… at his eyes, she was indeed beautiful, but there was a reason she didn't think she was a pretty girl : she hadn't got the attention of her biggest crush since childhood: Keoni Jameson.

Stitch growled at the thought of the red haired boy… that lucky jerk had gotten all the attention of his best friend, and he just wanted to hang that…blitznac surfer boy every time Lilo talked about him; whenever Lilo talked about him, a strange sparkle appeared on her eyes, revealing she was thrilled… some days ago he had invited her to the Valentine's ball and she had left the house so thrilled… he didn't really know why he was so jealous, it was a strange sensation he hadn't felt before, not even when male experiments used to stare at Angel when they were fiancées… that was the reason he started to feel something about Lilo… Angel had started dating with someone else, or at least that was what Stitch thought, and that made him jealous and mad at Angel. Angel got mad at Stitch too and agreed with Sparky to make Stitch believe they were dating. Stitch realized of that and tried to make the same thing with Lilo. They were pretending during a long time they were closer than just friends and pretended to be dating too… he still could remember that time when he saw Angel kissing Sparky and what happened next: his first kiss.

_**FLASHBACK**_

_Angel was talking with Sparky calmly __on one of the streets of the small town when she saw Stitch approaching with Lilo. She growled at the sight of Stitch's arm wrapped around Lilo's waist, but she wouldn't let him to get what he wanted, so she waited him to approach. _

_When Stitch saw Angel, a lot of minutes before she made him out, he just moaned and stared at Lilo worriedly:_

_-What's going Stitch? —Lilo asked when she noticed Stitch's troubled face and his samples of uneasiness._

_-Isaka Angel!!! Angel with Sparky!!! —he growled, not because of jealousy, but because he thought Angel was offending him with that attitude._

_-Oooh, I know… put your hand on my waist…hey, that will make her believe that we're together as a couple! Besides, that's what couples do on the programs Pleackley use to watch —she explained when she saw a startled Stitch staring at her confused._

_After the explanation, Stitch eased his face and wrapped firmly his arm around Lilo's waist. He noticed her waist was getting slimmer as he tightened his grip on it. For some weird reason, he felt awkward when he wrapped his arm around Lilo's waist, but he thought it was completely normal, due it always happened since they started pretend they were dating: he always felt that strange sensation when__ever he even touched her. After they were ready, he smiled timidly at Lilo, and she did the same. He didn't know why, but something compelled him to smile at her like that, but he thought once more it was normal, even though he hadn't ever felt something like this on his life. They started walking towards the street where Angel and Sparky were eating shaved ice while talking._

_As Stitch expected, his arm around Lilo was enough to release Angel's jealousy, but for his surprise she did something he had never done with her, although they were fiancées: she closed to Sparky and placed her lips on Sparky's. Shock was all what Stitch felt: he had seen persons kissing only on the TV programs Pleackley used to watch and in some movies. The most he had done with Angel was licking her face, but he had never kissed her… he felt curiosity to know what it felt like, and after he saw that Angel and Sparky pulled away, he decided to do the same: soothingly and slowly, he closed his face to Lilo's. Lilo noticed Stitch getting too close and became nervous and got an awkward feeling:_

_-Hum, Stitch? What do you exactly want to…??? —Lilo's sentence was interrupted when Stitch's lips crashed against hers: he was kissing her!!!_

_Stitch didn't know at first what to do, so he had decided to kiss Lilo during just five or ten seconds to make Angel jealous… he just wanted to do it quickly, but when he whirled his head to kiss her, he stared at her eyes… there was again that awkward feeling, but there was something else he had never, never felt… that something made him to fall into some kind of trance, which made him to close his face to hers slowly and not as quick as he had planned to do…now that his lips were upon hers, his stomach just began spinning inside of him, and his heart beating fastened, and his whole body was practically out of control while this little girl had his lips on his…he didn't know what it was, but it felt so… so wonderful and magic. At first he noticed Lilo frozen under his lips, but after some seconds he noticed her relaxing, wrapping her arms around his neck and even pulling his face closer and kissing him back, and he didn't do anything but continue the kiss and tighten his grip on her waist… what he had planned to do during five or ten seconds lasted at least five minutes. Those minutes were almost the glory for Stitch, and there existed nothing else but Lilo and himself… finally, they pulled away when their lungs were demanding some oxygen inside of them. While their breaths were coming back to their lungs, they rested their heads on each other's while they remained embraced just like when they were kissing. Angel and Sparky were staring at them startled: it was all a show to see that strange scene._

_-W-what was that for? —__Stitch asked finally, after some minutes of recovering her breath._

_-W-what?—Lilo lift her eyes to see at Stitch's._

_-Why Lilo pulled Stitch closer? _

_Lilo dropped her head as she felt her cheeks burning, and noticed that Angel was now walking away furiously, with Sparky following her._

_-I-I don't know… I just thought that if it seemed real for Angel, you could get her jealous, and I just did what I thought… what would make it seem more real._

_Stitch dropped his hears and his head… he didn't know why, but he had expected Lilo to say another thing, like… he didn't know, just something… but she just had done it to make Angel jealous, just like he had wanted… if he had gotten what he wanted, then why does he feel so disappointed about Lilo's attitude?_

_-Ooh… well, meega… can understand__ —he said softly, trying to hide his disappointing and untied his arms from Lilo's waist. _

_After some seconds of uncomfortable silence, Lilo finally broke it to talk:_

_-Wow, you're such a great kisser, Stitch… seems like you've done it before —Lilo smiled at Stitch__ when she noticed his saddened expression. Stitch flushed:_

_-Lilo… good kisser too. Lilo has done it before???_

_Now it was Lilo's turn to flush:_

_-N-not actually. You're the first one I've ever kissed… I always wanted Keoni to be the first one… but after all, that kiss wasn't genuine… we were pretending, right?—Lilo dropped her head to stare at the ground… the last part went out her mouth with a sad intonation._

_-Ih… pretending —Stitch said sadly too. He would have wanted his first kiss to be genuine… not because he wanted to make someone jealous._

_-Well, let's imagine this never happened… you've already gotten what you wanted… if we continue pretending, all the others will think that actually we're more than friends, and I don't want Nani to think that… I don't know what her reaction would be like… then, just friends?—Lilo said as she tended her hand toward Stitch._

_Stitch lifted his hand reluctantly… the words "more than friends" had sounded so beautiful for him… finally he took Lilo's hand and shook it:_

_-Ih… just friends… achie-babas —he said as Lilo's hand escaped from his. Once more, he felt the same thing he felt whenever he touched her, the sensation that sends butterflies to his stomach, but it disappeared quickly as he remembered they were just friends again._

_Lilo wanted to end with that subject, but no idea came to her mind…finally she got something that would make Stitch to forget all those events:_

_-Well, wanna go for some coconut cake?_

_Stitch perked his ears and widened his eyes:_

_-And coffee? —he said as his stomach started to growl inside of him. Lilo laughed happily:_

_-And coffee too. C'mon, let's go —she said and pointed to a near post of food. However, although Lilo's attempts to make Stitch forget the subject, the image of Lilo and himself kissing and the sensation of her lips pressed against his remained on his mind during all the day…_

_**FLASBACK ENDS**_

… And during all those years too. He hadn't been able to take out the image of Lilo's face as he kissed her: that startled and confused look had remained six years on his mind, and since then his feelings were so confusing… about Angel, they talked after all those incidents and decided they were better like friends. Angel had fallen in love with Sparky during all their adventures trying to make Stitch jealous, and he had fallen in love with her too since she kissed him; now they're married and Angel is pregnant with his pups, and in a couple of months she'll give to birth them.

Stitch smiled at that thought. Angel was happier now with Sparky than she could've been ever with him, and that was good after all. He whirled tiredly his head to see why the record player wasn't playing any song. He stood up, realizing he needed to turn round the disc to listen to the side "B", and returned to his cot when it was done. The soft sound of an electric guitar filled the dome with its slow music, as well the sounds of a battery playing as slowly as the guitar. He dropped on his cot and glued his eyes on the ceiling, thoughtful, as the voice of The King started to sing:

"_Am I ready, can my heart be true?  
Am I ready to fall in love with you?"  
_

As the guitar was playing a soft melody, his mind ran backwards to his firsts memories of when he met Lilo. He remembered when she went to the pound to adopt some animal to be her friend…. he would never forget that day. He knew Lilo was the first one that loved him and penetrated beyond of the hard armor that used to cover his heart and gave him the sensibility to take care about someone else than himself… _  
_

"_One love, one girl, one dream shared by two  
Am I ready to fall in love with you?"  
_

His mind ran forward now. He remembered of when he died, and how he returned to the living world thanks to Lilo's love… his thoughts went slightly forward to their experiments hunters' days. He remembered how his love developed towards Lilo during all those years, and then he remembered how Angel entered on his life and changed the things, and how he talked to Lilo of how much he loved Angel, and she told him of how much she liked Keoni… they were each other's secret-keepers during a long time._  
_

"_I have touched your lips, and now I know  
I would be a fool, to let you go"  
_

While he was listening to the _"I have touched your lips" _part, his mind accelerated his memories to when he had his first kiss with Lilo. He could remember vaguely the sensation of Lilo's lips upon his, and how it changed some thoughts and doubts he had had before… he could live again on his mind that moment whenever he wanted to… he could feel Lilo pulling him closer to her face and intensifying the pressure on his lips, taking away all the oxygen of his lungs… but he remembered too the disappointment on his heart when she told him she had wanted Keoni to be the first one she kissed, but even so he was still feeling something strange about her…

_  
__"Should I, could I, how I wish I knew  
Am I ready… to fall in love with you?"  
_

"_Am I in love? Do I truly love someone this time?"_ he thought doubtful. He hadn't loved anyone on that way before, so he had no way to know if he was feeling a genuine love toward Lilo. He was so hesitant…_  
_

"_Should I, could I, how I wish I knew  
Am I ready… to fall in love with you?"_

He was so doubtful… how could he ever know what was true love like?

_"Fall in love... with... you..."_

Finally, the song ended. He stood up to change the disk and play another one, but something caught his attention… it was a soft noise… _"Yeah, that must be Lilo" _he said to himself when he heard some others soft noises outside. He rushed to the window to assure it was his friend the one he had heard, and in fact, it was her… but something wasn't right on her; something seemed to disagree with her, because she was… weeping?

"_What's going with her? Why is she crying? What happened?" _he wondered as he exited through the window. He saw how Lilo lifted her hand to open the door and enter the house, but then she regretted it and ran toward the backyard. Stitch didn't last for too long upon the dome: he rushed to the ground and followed Lilo's steps. When he finally reached the backyard, he saw her upon the hammock, sitting cross-legged and bent down, hiding her face between her hands, trying to hide her tears. Her back was trembling repeatedly, on an irregular rhythm… a clear sign of her crying. His heart ached: he had never liked seeing Lilo crying, and he always felt bad whenever she cried. After some minutes of hesitating, he went out of his hiding place and approached to the hammock. He could hear her weeping, barely audible, and murmuring some things under her breath; he was now next to the hammock, and trying to understand what Lilo was saying, without knowing what to do. After some seconds, he climbed into the hammock and sat right in front of her, closing his hand to her face to dry a tear that slipped down through her cheek:

-Lilo?

Lilo lift her head when she heard that voice, so well known by her… she didn't bother herself to pretend she was right. It was too clear there was something wrong with her just to hide it like nothing. Stitch's hand reached her cheek and dried the tear he had seen; Lilo caught Stitch's hand with her tan one and held it close to her face as she smiled weakly at him:

-Aloha, Stitch. I thought… I thought you were already asleep. It's already late for you to be awoken…

Stitch stared into her eyes. There was an upset looking that made his body tremble and staring at her worriedly:

-What's wrong, Lilo? Why Lilo isa crying?

Lilo stared at him and dropped quickly her eyes.

-Don't worry about me, Stitch… actually, it's a non-importance thing… in fact, I don't know why I am crying.

-Naga. Lilo… strangely cries. Isa must be important thing. —Stitch assured as he closed to Lilo—Please, tell Stitch —he said as rested his head on his friend's legs. Lilo smiled weakly at him, but her smile disappeared as quickly as it came to her face:

-It's her entire fault!!! It was her… if it weren't because of her… after all, what does that Kayla has that I don't??? Why did he invite me to go out??? To scoff about me along with his friends??? To let me see that I'm not a pretty girl??? I'm not even close to be pretty!!!

Lilo couldn't hide her sadness as she said the last words, and her face became a sea of tears. Stitch stared at her. He felt how his rage started to grow inside of him, and how the blood on his veins started boiling; how could that stupid boy make Lilo cry??? Wasn't enough for her to know that he wasn't genuinely interested about her??? He felt once more that loathe against Keoni that made him think about tossing him to the sea, far, really far away from Lilo and him and not seeing him again on the living world.

However, his rage decreased quickly when he thought about Lilo, leaving a sadness sensation instead of rage. He could feel her pain and disappointing as he saw the way she was crying… actually, he had seen her crying on that way only when several years ago she thought he died. She had cried other times because other stuff, but never as intensely as those two times… and now it was the fault of Keoni Jameson Lilo was crying on that way. He desired deeply to comfort her, holding her on his arms and not to let her go for a long while… but he was starting to feel again the same sensation he had felt several years ago, that sensation he had just some seconds before kissing her, on that little street of the Kokawa town; he felt he just wanted to take her face on his hands and crash his lips against hers, just like that time, and felt nothing could stop him… except the fact that she **still **liked that… boy. If she was crying on that way, maybe she didn't just like Keoni… maybe she even…

His heart shrank when that thought hit his mind. Could be Lilo _in love_ with Keoni?

-Why, Stitch? Why I cannot be at least slightly pretty, just like Kayla? I'm the only one who hasn't got a boyfriend on school, and everybody mock at me because of that… I think I'm the only one who has not got the attention of the one I like the most…

Lilo's voice shook his mind for some seconds, making him to get out from his thoughts and go back to real world. He stared at his friend during some seconds… he was still feeling awkward at her, and every second that past it was more hard for him to stop his urge to pull her face down to his face and kiss her…

-You know? I miss when I was on the hula school, because there I had friends… when I got to the high school, everything seemed to get really bad… I miss everything from when I was younger… there, we were Ohana, and nothing else was more important than that… on the high school, the most important is being pretty, because if you aren't, then nobody wants to be beside of you… I wish I was at least slightly pretty…

Lilo's tears seemed to have calmed down, but her eyes revealed that she was as sad as when she started to cry, but at least she knew there was someone listening at her, and that was really comforting for her.

Stitch was still struggling against his urges. Lilo's eyes were lost on the horizon, but her face was bowed still, not too far away from his face… maybe just two feet away. He turned his eyes away from Lilo's face on a last attempt to think about another thing instead of kissing Lilo. Finally, it seemed like he was getting back the control of his mind and body, letting him to focus on comforting Lilo.

-Lilo naga pretty, isa true... Lilo beautiful… —he said softly. A small smile appeared on Lilo's face, but her eyes were still lost on the horizon. Oblivious of his motions, Stitch lifted a hand and took Lilo's chin on his hand and turned her head softly, taking care not to hurt her. Finally, he got Lilo's eyes to stare into his eyes, as he wanted, and concluded his sentence —…if no boy realizes about that, then they blind… Stitch naga blind. Stitch realizes Lilo is beautiful… very, very beautiful.

Lilo smiled at him tenderly as she caressed his cheek. Her eyes showed a great gratitude at him —Thanks for listening at me, Stitch. I don't know what I would do if I hadn't you… you comfort me when you listen me, even if I still feel sad about this… thank you.

-Don't be sad, Lilo… Stitch doesn't like to see Lilo sad. Stitch likes Lilo happy —Stitch stared into her eyes as he talked. He thought Lilo was beautiful, but what he liked the most about her were her eyes… those eyes were indeed beautiful. They could easily change from a warm, loving glance to a burning glance of anger or a penetrating glance of sadness. She could say easily with her eyes what she couldn't say with words, like if she was sad, angry, happy, depressed or joyful, among a lot more of emotions and feelings.

Now her eyes were showing him that she felt sad, but comforted. She was staring at his black eyes intensely, making him to feel again awkward.

-I can't help to feel still sad, Stitch. What Keoni did to me isn't easy to forget quickly.

-If Lilo still feels sad, then Stitch has to comfort Lilo better, if you want.

-Yeah? What are you going to do, Stitch?

Stitch lifted his hand to reach Lilo's neck:

-I'm going to do… this.

The hand Stitch had on Lilo's neck pulled her down, on a fast, but gentle motion. His movement was so fast that Lilo hadn't enough time to process what was happening, but she could feel clearly how Stitch's lips pressed against hers as he didn't loose his grip on her neck. Her confused mind thought at first in pulling him away and run to her room, but inside of her, very, very inside of her, something was awakening… it was a feeling that she had felt several years ago, when she first kiss someone… when she kissed Stitch.

Stitch was scared. He didn't know how would Lilo react after they pulled away… he didn't know if she would accept what he was doing, but it was an impulse he couldn't stop. To his surprise, he felt how Lilo's hands ran through his ears, caressing them softly and even lovingly… he noticed that she wasn't trying to push him away, but her hands were running caringly through his ears and the back of his head, finally reaching his neck and pulling him closer to her body. Stitch rose from Lilo's lap, not letting of her lips go and lowered his strong arms to surround her waist. She brought her arms to his neck, wrapping it enough tight not to suffocate him. Stitch smiled to himself as he felt Lilo's lips brushing against his softly, not believing that this was happening, that _actually_ he was kissing Lilo… it was too good to believe it. He raised one of his hands and reached the back of Lilo's head; he pulled her closer, like wanting to melt her inside his arms or her lips with his. They remained kissing for some seconds, and finally pulled away slowly, still hugging. Lilo pulled Stitch away softly and dropped on the hammock. Stitch smiled and approached her:

-You better?

However, Lilo didn't answer.

-Lilo?

Stitch touched her face gently. He started to get scared…

-Lilo? You okay? Lilo??? Lilo!!!

He shook her by her shoulders, but she wasn't responding, she just didn't open her eyes.

-Uh-oh…

Stitch took her on his arms and carried her to the spaceship. Something there was wrong, and he feared for Lilo and her life.

**Hmmm... what do you think? It's going okay? Please, submit a review and tell me what you think about the story till now. **


	2. Chapter 2

Huff!!! Finally, here's chapter two. I know, you can kill me if you want because I delayed a whole eternity to write it, but I've been kind of busy reading a story MisGel told me to read, because it's going to help me to write another story I have on mind (and which I'm already writing) Well, hope you like it!!!_**  
**_

_**BECAUSE OF LOVE**_

_Chapter 2_

Jumba yawned as he pressed the last key on the keyboard:

-Well, that's being enough for a day. Evil Genius is getting tired of inventing new additions for house. Am going to watch TV.

The chair creaked as he stood up. The computer screen turned black as he pressed the off button. His feet started moving towards the exit door, but before he could press the button to go out, the metallic sluice opened, revealing his little, though most successful creation outside. Jumba's eyes widened:

-626!!! What happened to Little Girl??? Why are you carrying her on your arms???

Stitch entered quickly, not paying attention to Jumba's questions. He placed gently the girl on a near couch and turned to Jumba:

-Jumba! Lilo isa tiki-uga!!! Naga oki-takka!!! Gaba nodu oki Lilo?

-626, be calming down… perhaps Little Girl is just tired and fell asleep… however, am going to see what's the matter with her. Go to watch TV while Jumba is checking Little Girl; I'll be advising you when I finish checking her.

-But…

-626, please, be trusting me: she will be okay; am just needing to check if everything is being alright with her. Do what I'm telling to you: go and calm down.

Jumba pushed him gently outside. Stitch went out reluctantly: he really wanted to be there, beside of Lilo. He looked back at Lilo, lying on the couch before the door closed. When the door finally closed, the darkness inundated the place, being only illuminated by the feeble light of the moon and the stars, but only by a few seconds: a huge cloud blocked the moon, leaving everything on a deep darkness. A lightning illuminated the sky for some seconds, and a soft rain started to fall on the ground. Stitch wanted to stay there, waiting, but soon the water obligated him to rush to the house before getting his fur soaked.

"_What a strangest weather! Some minutes ago, I would've sworn it was totally normal. What's going?" _Stitch thought as he reached the door. A chill ran across his spine; he felt something was wrong with Lilo… and somehow, this cold rain made him to remember that fact. Would be it an advice?

"_-626, be calming down… perhaps Little Girl is just tired and fell asleep…"_

Those had been Jumba's words… he wanted him to calm down because everything was going to be okay with Lilo… or at least that was what he thought. He dropped on the couch… what if Jumba was wrong? After they pulled away, something changed. He had felt something changing on her all of sudden. Maybe he had heard it? That was pretty probable. His sense of hearing was even better than the bat's, he could have heard easily the beats of her heart… and in fact he did. He heard the way Lilo's beat fastened when they were kissing, and how it stopped all of sudden…

-Oh, hello Stitch! Wanna watch some TV?

Stitch jumped right where he was sitting on. He had been so thoughtful that he didn't realize that Pleackley was still watching TV while sitting on the couch, so he had sat there without noticing anything around him, not even Pleackley.

-Huh? Gaba?

-Awww, my favorite program has finished… well, it's time to change to another channel!!!

Stitch watched as Pleackley changed the channels one by one. Finally, after the hundredth time of changing channels, he stopped on one that got his attention:

-Okay, let's see what we have here!!!

It seemed to be another of those boring programs he loved to watch, but Stitch would gladly watch it if it calmed him down at least a bit.

"-_Good night to all those who are watching us right now —_a man talked as he entered on the room —_welcome to "The saddest love tragedies". Today we'll have one of the saddest stories we have ever watched. Cry while you watch it."_

Stitch tried to watch the program, but slowly, he started to feel his eyelids getting heavier. He shook his head twice, trying not to fall asleep, but soon he was so tired that he couldn't help to let his eyelids to close during some seconds. He repeated the same action some times, and eventually he gave up, falling asleep.

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Jumba yawned as he sat back on his chair:

-Alright, everything is placed now. The only thing left to do is waiting until computer gives me the results… 626 was being too worried about Little Girl, but am being sure she just passed out for some reason… hehe, am betting she got a date with the not-so-smart boy.

He stared at Lilo, lying down on some kind of table. He looked at the computer and pressed a red button on it. The computer came to life and started to beep:

-_Scanning process on. Looking for anomalies in the solicited body. Please wait some minutes while the process is finished off._

Jumba stared at the screen as a tridimensional image of Lilo's body appeared there:

-Ah, it will be quick. If some anomaly is found, then the computer will show me what's being wrong or strange with Little Girl, but am sure she just needs to rest.

A little red light lit on the screen and the computer beeped:

_-First anomaly found: stress level is too high._

Jumba stared at the computer for some seconds. It was true, the level of stress on Lilo was too high for someone of her age, but then he thought again that she just needed to rest to get okay, but as he thought that the computer beeped again:

_-Second anomaly found: blood pressure is too high._

Before Jumba could even concentrate on what the computer had just said, it beeped again:

_-Third anomaly found: heart rate is too elevated over the normal level._

That got Jumba's full attention. Yeah, maybe a too high stress level shouldn't be such an issue to worry about, but a high blood pressure coming along with a too elevated heart rate was more than worrying. The red ciphers appeared on the screen of the computer, and all what Jumba could do was stare at them with worried eyes:

-This is not being very good…

The anomalies list grew larger as more symptoms were added to the list. Jumba's eyes grew wide with worry as he looked at that list. Definitely, this wasn't good…

_-Scanning process has ended. Preparing diagnosis…_

Jumba approached to the screen eagerly. Maybe, after all, Stitch had been right about being that worried about Lilo…

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"-_What's going with Mary Anne, doctor? Please, I need to know!!!_

_The doctor just shook his head._

_-Sir, I can't lie to you. Mary Anne has a strange heart disease that has no cure… besides she's on terminal phase. I'm sorry…"_

-Ahhh, poor Mary Anne!!! She won't be able to marry Michael!!!!

Pleackley's loud cry made Stitch to open his eyes and jump with that huge amount of decibels on his voice, making him to fall onto the hard floor. He groaned, not because it hurt him, but because he didn't like the way Pleackley made him awoken, but Pleackley seemed to pay more attention to the TV than to Stitch's annoyance, so he just climbed back to the couch and tried to go back to sleep, but this time the TV drew his attention too:

"_-Doctor, may I see Mary Anne? I want to talk to her…_

_The doctor seemed to think about it thoroughly, and finally nodded:_

_-Okay, but quick. No more than five minutes. Please, try not to impress her too much… remember her heart is too weak…"_

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Jumba waited patiently, but his insides were spinning swiftly with a considerable amount of thoughts about Lilo… he was starting to believe that Stitch's first impulse had been right. The computer finally finished with the diagnosis process and beeped:

-_WARNING… WARNING…_

Jumba hurried to press a button, and the computer halted. Instead of the warning advice, another letters appeared on the screen:

_-The living being you have requested to be checked has a cardiovascular disease, and now is on terminal phase. Remaining time of life: estimated on 15 Earth-days. The amount of days can vary, depending on the resistance of the body._

-Oh no…

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Stitch was now totally entangled on the TV program. What had got his attention wasn't the "romance", as Pleackley would call it (in fact, he didn't know exactly what romance meant, but that didn't annoyed him)… what had got his attention was the illness symptoms, making him to imagine unwillingly what would happen if Lilo had that illness. He could almost imagine Lilo laying on that bed instead of the actress, helpless, her life being held by a machine that could just delay the inevitable death… he shook his head, trying to toss away that thought from his mind. After all, TV wasn't the same thing than real life was… right?

"_-Isn't there anyone who wants to donate a heart? My love's dying!!! Please… is really that difficult to get a heart? —"_

Pleackley was now crying at the top of his throat uncontrollably as uttering some meaningless words. Stitch growled as he heard Pleackley crying. The one-eyed noodle was getting to his nerves. Everything was getting to his nerves!!! Definitely Pleackley wasn't helping him to feel better with his cries, nor the TV program. His head started spinning with a bewildering fury, and everything became a blur to his eyes. He couldn't tell what happened to him, the next he knew was he had a small pillow ripped to tears on his hands. The couch were he had been sitting on was no more than two huge pieces of wood. Pleackley hid behind of the biggest one, trying to protect himself from Stitch's anger:

-AHHH!!!!!!! Stitch, please control yourself!!!! You're gonna tear the whole house to tears!!! What's the matter with you???????

Stitch calmed down quickly. His respiration went slow as he watched with wide eyes what he had just done… did he really went out of control to do that? His eyes studied the whole room: the TV was steaming smoke out of its broken glass; lying on the floor was the old shelf with all the books sprawled over the whole room, some of them with their pages ripped to little tears. He didn't remember clearly how he had come to do all that havoc, he just knew that from a second to another he turned from an uneasy Stitch to a total destructor monster. Pleackley, seeing that Stitch had apparently calmed down, went out from his hiding place and started to pick up some pieces of all those trash:

-Great, now I'll have to clean the whole room!!! If only Lilo was here to keep you down… of course, she's the only one who can keep you down, not even Jumba can when you insist on destroy everything you touch!!!

-Stitch… Stitch is sorry… Stitch didn't mean to destroy home…

Stitch stared back at the room, watching what he had done once more, not believing it at all. It was true. If Lilo was there, then he wouldn't have done all that disaster, but he had because was afraid… afraid of being told something he didn't want to hear.

-Pleackley, where is being 626???? Am needing to talk to him urgently!!!

Stitch's eyes went from the room to the opened door. Jumba was standing there, panting for air and wet because of the rain, pouring softly outside. As he recovered his composure, he looked into the room:

-What was happening here???

Pleackley frowned as he bent down to pick up another piece of trash:

-Well, your dear monster went out of control and did all this!!! —he said as his finger pointed at everything broken on tore to tears inside the room —now I'll have to clean up all this disaster!!!

Jumba looked for Stitch with his gaze and stared at him. Stitch couldn't know if it was a disappointed glance or a worried one, but Jumba didn't seem to be calm. Anyway, he started talking again, now to Stitch:

-Not being important now. 626, am needing you to come to spaceship with me. Something isn't right with Little Girl…

Stitch raised his eyebrows as he heard those words. Again he felt that fear to be told what he didn't want to hear… what if Lilo was _really_ going to die?

-But… Jumba told Stitch… Lilo will be oki-takka… right?

-Am not thinking like that now, 626. Computer has found that Little Girl is really wrong. Let's go to spaceship!!!! Am explaining later!!!!

-What do you mean with "Little Girl is wrong", huh? Jumba, what's the matter with Lilo??? Please, tell me!!! —Pleackley cried as he grabbed Jumba's shirt.

-Be coming with us if you are wanting to know… there's no time!!! Jumba said as he rushed outside, with Stitch following him closely. Pleackley was left behind during some seconds, without knowing what to do, but then he started to run as well:

-Hey, wait for me!!!

As all of them ran downstairs, the lights of a jeep was seen through the darkness of the forest. Nani was arriving home now.

-Hey guys, what's up? What are you so worried about? —Nani asked as she noticed Stitch passing as a lightning next to her.

-Something's wrong with Lilo!!! Come on, Jumba will explain us in the spaceship!!! —Pleackley shouted as he passed her.

-Oh, no… wait for me, then!!! —she shouted as she followed Pleackley.

Stitch was a lot of meters ahead of the group. His fear made him to run faster than what he thought was possible even for him. He ran passing some ferns and other vegetation of the forest, falling from time to time on some muddy puddle, as the cold rain poured on his head and body. He didn't mind though. He just wanted to get to the spaceship. Finally, after some seconds more of running, he got to the spaceship. He entered there and looked for Lilo frantically, and there, next to the computer's keyboard was some kind of cot. There was she.

He rushed to her side. As soon as he reached her, he took her hand on both of his and squeezed it:

-Lilo? —he whispered, squeezing it a bit more —please, wake up… meega naga likes Lilo sad, or sick. Meega likes Lilo happy. Please…

His eyes began to water, and a knot came to his throat. He took off a tear from his right eye, but as soon as he did, he noticed by first time the computer screen. He let go of Lilo's hand and approached to the screen, trying to read these words:

_The living being you have requested to be checked has a cardiovascular disease, and now is on terminal phase…_

Stitch tilted his head slightly, showing his confusion. How could he even know what a cardiovascular disease was, or what terminal phase meant? He was intelligent, but there were some words that confused him. He couldn't understand all what it read, but he decided to continue reading those huge red letters:

_Remaining time of life: estimated on 15 Earth-days. The amount of days can vary, depending on the resistance of the body._

"_Remaining time… of life???"_

Stitch gasped. He knew what that meant, but didn't want to believe it… Lilo had less than a week left to live… she was going to die.

-Alright, now as Jumba promised, am telling you about Little Girl —a Russian accented voice filled the room. As he heard the voice, Stitch ran into Jumba and grabbed him by his shirt, before he could even give an explanation:

-Jumba, Lilo naga oki-takka!!! Lilo isa kuwani wamba dooka… Lilo… Lilo gonna die!!!!!!!

Stitch loosened of sudden his grip on Jumba's shirt and fell to the ground helplessly as he cried. Everybody stared at Stitch shocked. Nani bent down and helped Stitch to his feet gently, not knowing how to calm him down. After some seconds all the glances went to Jumba:

-Jumba, is Lilo… going to die? —Nani asked cautiously, trying not to lose her self-control. Pleackley stared at Jumba with the same glance on Nani's face, waiting eagerly for an answer. Jumba dropped his head sadly:

-Am fearing she is. She has a heart disease that is making her heart to stop its beaten. Computer calculates she has no more than fifteen days before her heart stops completely.

Everybody dropped their faces. Nani's cheeks were filled soon with her tears. She tried to keep her composure, but it was more than she could take and soon she was on her knees, crying while embracing her sides. Some tears were on Pleackley's eye too, but he could make it better to hide it.

-But how's possible??? She's barely sixteen!!! How could she get such a horrible disease???

-Am not knowing for sure. Computer showed the stress level was too high, as well as the blood pressure. Perhaps Little Girl was having some kind of problem at school, which could surely have made her to get the high stress level, but something really bad must have happened to her tonight… something that really got to her nerves…

-How do you know that??? —Pleackley asked while trying to comfort Nani.

-The illness Little Girl suffers of is really dangerous because its havocs are not shown up until the damage is too advanced inside of heart, making either too difficult or impossible to find a solution for problem. She could have been living with it by years without even knowing about it!!! The strong emotions and impressions are accumulated inside of her. It's like a time-bomb: the most she accumulates those strong emotions, the most the risk of being affected by them increase. That's what happened to Little Girl: she was having a too strong emotion that got to her nerves and made the time-bomb explode…

-And is there any cure or solution to this?

-Am not being sure. Am trying to look for one, but it's not too likely I can be finding one…

Nani started to weep again, this time silently, waiting…

The worst of them had been Stitch, who had hit the floor until leaving the mark of his fists on it. Now he was apparently calmed, but his insides were really troubled. He was so troubled that he feared he could, from one moment to other, destroy the whole spaceship, just like the living room. Everybody waited… just waited… Jumba seemed to pass a whole eternity playing the keys on the keyboard, looking for some kind of solution.

-Am not being sure about how long it will be taking. Perhaps family should be going to house to rest a little while am working on this.

Pleackley and Nani glanced at each other and nodded. They walked out the spaceship and made their way to home. But Stitch stayed there. He had remained in the same place he had been on since Jumba started to explain Lilo's problem. Jumba started playing on the keys again, but he knew Stitch hadn't left the room. Without turning his face away from the screen, he started to talk:

-626, you are needing to rest as well. This might be taking a long time to find a solution. Why don't you go to be resting as everybody?

Stitch sighed:

-Meega naga nota… Stitch wants to stay beside of Lilo —he said softly as he stared at the floor —can Stitch stay here?

-Am not knowing if it's being a good idea, 626 —Jumba answered —but if you are wanting to stay here, it's alright. Besides, am supposing that Bigger Girl will not be very happy about the living room —he chuckled as he thought about the havoc done in there.

Stitch said nothing else. He walked toward Lilo slowly, like thinking about something. He grabbed a near chair and placed it near to the table Lilo was lying on. As he sat down, he took a grip on one of her hands and stroked it softly. His eyes started to water, but this time he could control better his emotions and just wept silently as all his fears came to his mind. Why she? From all the persons he could know why she had to be the one lying there, almost dying? A chill ran across his spine when a somber thought crossed his mind. What would happen if she died?

The images of the destroyed living room came to his mind. He was nervous when he did that, he was afraid… now that he knew what was going to happen to Lilo, it scared him even more. If he had done it only because of uneasiness, how much more damage would he do if Lilo died? The fact that his life could become empty because the absence of Lilo in it scared him more than anything… what if he became again a monster? What if he went out of control? These and more thoughts made his whole being shrank with fear. He had been afraid of other things before, and he had tried to deny it several times because of his own pride, but this… this was beyond of his pride, beyond of his strength. He felt so impotent… he was the ultimate experiment, the Experiment 626, the Almighty of all of the experiments… and there was him, with all his strength, with all his powers and abilities, unable to save his best friend, his boojibu…

-Lilo… —he whispered softly, near of the girl's face. He tried to speak completely in English, pausing between words, trying to guess which word would fit better —Why you? All persons… why you? You are my friend, my boojibu… Stitch wished Stitch was on your place… Stitch would die without you. Please, don't leave Stitch alone… if you do, Stitch will die. Your love keeps Stitch alive… gives Stitch a reason to live… if only Stitch could do something… Stitch would give live only to keep yours here… Stitch would gladly die for you… because Stitch loves you… ih, more than just friend. Stitch truly loves you. I… just wanted you… to know that.

He looked at her face for some seconds more, hoping her eyes would open all of sudden, hoping she would smile at him again with that same warmth that made his heart melt inside of him. But her eyes remained closed, and her lips never moved to smile at him. Instead, they were pale, not showing any sign of consciousness or even life…

He diverted his eyes from her angelical face to look up at Jumba. He was still playing on the keyboard, and seemed like if he was going to stay like that for a long time. Then he looked back at her face, and then down at her lips. He hesitated about doing what he had in his mind, but after some seconds he cupped her face on his hands and leaned on slightly to meet his lips with hers. _"Why am I doing this if she cannot even feel that I'm here?" _he thought as he kissed her, but then another thought crossed his mind: _"Don't think too much about what you're doing. This might be the very last time you can kiss her while she's still alive, so don't think about it anymore… just do it"_ Some part inside of him seemed to be talked to him, and he did what he was told to do. As some tears flowed from his closed eyes, he leaned closer and pulled her face closer to his, kissing her more intensely like trying to glue to her.

Jumba was still looking at the screen, but for some unknown reason he needed to turn his face away from the screen just for some seconds. What he saw made him almost to drop his jaw. There, on that feebly-lighted corner of the ship, was his ultimate creation, beside of the girl, but that wasn't what bewildered him. What made him stunned was the fact that he was pressing his lips again the lips of the girl like if his whole life depended on that. He observed shocked how some tears started to flow from his eyes, and watched his useless attempts to keep them inside by closing them more. He was crying… the Experiment 626 was crying out his heart, just like a baby would have cried without his mom, but silently. This was the first time he watched him crying on that way and that shocked him completely. Finally, after several seconds of watching, he retrieved his composure and waited until Stitch pulled Lilo away completely:

-626…

Stitch jumped with fright. He had totally forgotten that Jumba was there as well, and the thought that Jumba might have seen him kissing Lilo made him drop his face and blush in shame. Jumba realized that Stitch wasn't going to reply him, so he continued:

-Am letting computer work by itself. Jumba is going to sleep on the bed inside the spaceship. Am thinking you should go back home, but am not forcing you to leave if you are not wanting to. Are you staying here?

Stitch couldn't get back his own composure, so he just nodded without looking up at his creator:

-Um, yeah… Stitch gonna stay here… good night, Jumba.

Stitch grabbed quickly another chair from the corner and put it next to the one he had been sitting on, making a bed with both of them together. He lied there and just waited until his eyelids closed completely, allowing him to fall asleep. Jumba went to the room inside the spaceship, but returned with two blankets on his arms. First of them, he covered Lilo with the largest one, hoping Lilo could even move slightly, but nothing happened. Then he approached Stitch, and placed the unfolded second blanket on him, covering his body too. He couldn't help, but felt some kind of pain about his experiment. He wasn't a fool: he could realize easily that the love Stitch felt toward Lilo was beyond of a friendship love, but he could realize too about the pain Stitch was going through because of that love. He felt, in some way, that Stitch was like his son, his little creation, and he could feel the same pain Stitch was feeling.

"_Am hoping computer will be finding a solution" _he thought as he slipped inside the bed _" am not knowing what 626 can be doing if something happens to Little Girl… he would be more than distraught…"_

The very thought of a distraught Stitch made him to find a new strength_ "I've got to find a solution now by myself"_

With this thought on his mind, he went out of the bed and walked into the room. He was going to find some solution to the problem. He wasn't going to disappoint his family on anyway.

**Well, what do ya think about this? Please, review it so I can know what you think about it! I'm sorry for all those who didn't want Lilo to die... nope, I'm not gonna kill her, but the ending will shock you, I promise **


	3. Chapter 3

_**BECAUSE OF LOVE**_

_Chapter 3_

The days passed quickly for Stitch and the whole Ohana. Everyday they hoped that day would be the one when Jumba told them that he had found a solution for Lilo, but the night always came and nothing happened in the spaceship, making them to lose some of their hopes, even though they knew Jumba was doing his best to find a solution, spending the whole days in the ship just to find a solution. He never went out, not even to eat. Pleackley always brought his food to the spaceship so he could eat something.

The whole house had got a dull, even gloomy atmosphere since Lilo wasn't there. Nani tried to visit her everyday before going to work, finding most of times Stitch curled on her lap, looking for some kind of escape. She did or said nothing to him, but some thoughts started to fill her head whenever she saw him curled up that close to Lilo and how he didn't want to let go of her. Pleackley went from time to time just to see if she was awoken, usually bringing some extra food in case she was already awoken, but he always found the same motionless Lilo. He had realized about Stitch's behavior as well as Nani, but unlike to her, he guessed almost immediately Stitch's feelings about Lilo, but said nothing to him.

About Stitch, the very thought of Lilo lying in a coffin made him always run to see her whenever he had those thoughts or nightmares, trying to assure himself that Jumba would find a cure for her. Whenever he was with her, and those thoughts were still there, he would usually climb to the bed she was occupying now and curl up close to her, hoping somehow she moved her arms to wrap him or caress him as she used to do, but she remained always still and motionless. The only sign of life she showed was her irregular, slow respiration. If you didn't notice that, you would think she was dead.

The ninth day had almost come to its end, and the night was falling over the skies. Stitch, as the most of times, was sleeping, curled up close to Lilo and wrapping his arms around her protectively. Suddenly, he opened his eyes and sat up, sweating and breathing swiftly. The same nightmare of all nights… that was what made him awoken that way. He dropped again on the bed when he realized about it, assuring himself that Lilo was still alive as he curled up against her body. A deep sadness overwhelmed him when he remembered… she had now less that a single week left to live, and if Jumba didn't find a solution soon…

"_No… take away from you those thoughts"_ Stitch said to himself. The tears started to sting his eyes, but he tried to hold them, squeezing his eyelids against each other _"Lilo is gonna live… Jumba will find a solution for her. Why are you worrying? I bet that in any moment, I'll see Jumba opening that door and shouting that he has found a cure for her… she will not leave us behind…"_

He turned his head to the window and saw the sun hiding behind the cliffs and vegetation of Hawaii. After some minutes, everything was engulfed by the darkness, the ground and ferns being only illuminated by the feeble light of the stars and the moon. The ninth day was gone now.

The insides of Stitch started to growl. He stood up, understanding that he needed to have something inside his stomach. Before leaving, he glanced at Lilo a last time. Her face looked like an angel's, being illuminated by the last rays of the sun, and her silky hair shone with the sun fall reflected on it…

"…_The amount of days can vary, depending on the resistance of the body…"_

He remembered that night when everything started… the computer had said that the amount of days could vary… maybe Lilo would live longer than fifteen days, but… what if she lived shorter than fifteen days? He looked at her again with a scared expression… what if while he wasn't there she died?

He started to walk back to the bed, ignoring his stomach's protests to have some food inside of it. Soon, he was covered again by the sheets, next to Lilo. He wasn't going to let her alone at any second, and after some minutes, he fell asleep again.

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"_Stitch opened slowly his eyelids as he groaned. His vision was only a blur, but as the minutes passed, he could focus it… he looked at his surroundings. Why was he at the dome?_

"_I thought I was sleeping with Lilo" Stitch thought as he jumped off his cot "or at least that's what I think I was doing…maybe Jumba brought me here. I'm going back with Lilo"_

_The elevator started whirring as he was brought downstairs. He expected to see Pleackley at the kitchen, doing some new experimentation with the food, but there was no sign of life inside the house. Where was everybody? _

_Soon, he was making his way to the spaceship. As he went closer, he could hear some noises coming from inside of the spaceship. Could be that Lilo?_

_-Lilo!!! —he shouted joyfully as he ran as fast as possible to the spaceship, but as he ran, a wandering thought crossed his mind. This had happened before, like if he had already lived this…he didn't know it at that moment, but actually, he had already lived this because it was his nightmare of all nights…_

_His legs moved faster as he accelerated his speed to the spaceship. Finally, he would see his Lilo again, smiling at him and calling him to come to her arms. The joy was overwhelming, and as he closed to the ship, the joy was replaced by bewilderment. Those noises coming from inside… was somebody there weeping?_

_As his feet brought him closer to the ship, he could hear more sobs coming from inside. He approached to the sluice and opened it. Inside of the ship was his family: Jumba, Pleackley, Nani, David… and there were some experiments too. There was Sparky with his boojibu Angel and their newborn pup. There was Kixx, Slushy, Nosy, Shoe, Ying, and Yang…even Reuben!!! All the experiments who had loved Lilo the most and who had been her bests friends… The Grand Councilwoman was there too? Yeah, it was her. Her slim, unmistakable silhouette stood some meters ahead of him. His confusion grew bigger as he saw that everybody had tears in their eyes, even the Grand Councilwoman, who always had shown her cold, diplomatic side… what the blitznac was going on???_

_-Hi cuz… We came as soon as we heard about this. Gantu must be there too...— 625, now known as Reuben, approached Stitch and patted his back, as trying to comfort him —I'm really sorry… after all, Lilo was the one who gave me my name, right?_

_A weak smile appeared on Reuben's face, but Stitch could notice easily that he was at the brink of the tears. He shook off the hand Reuben had on his shoulder and walked away. All this was confusing him very, very much…_

_-Greetings, Captain Stitch… or should I just call you Stitch? —a deep voice rang right behind of him. He whirled his head just to find The Grand Councilwoman standing there. She tried to sound as solemn as always, but her voice cracked slightly as she talked —my condolences to you and your family. The Galactic Council sends their condolences too… our condolences because of the death of one of the greatest heroes in the galaxy… because of Lilo's death._

_Stitch froze. What had she just said???_

_-No… but Lilo oki-takka… Stitch was sleeping yesterday… she was there, alive… naga true…__NAGA TRUE!!!!!!!_

_The tears started to flow from his eyes as rivers, and his vision became once more a blur. He ran away, trying to escape from all the people around him… he already knew this was his nightmare, and he wanted to wake up, but he knew it wasn't finished though…_

_His head hit something hard and he fell to the ground. He lifted his head and remained frozen. A navy blue coffin was what his head had hit, and it was now right ahead of him. He approached the coffin slowly. He wanted to run away, to go out of the ship, but his feet motioned against his will. The upper lid of the coffin was opened, and before he could do anything to stop himself, he was there, looking inside of the coffin. His heart broke at the moment he saw the face of the person lying there. Before even peeking inside he knew she was there, but the very fact of confirming her death was more than painful. His insides ached like if they were being shattered by a dagger. He wanted to scream, to cry, to tear everything to pieces…he tried to yell out something, but no sound came to his throat, and felt like if something wrapped around him just like if somebody was trying to suffocate him. He struggled and struggled against it, but it seemed to be useless…"_

Stitch groaned when he felt something hard hitting his head and opened his eyes. He realized that he wasn't anymore on the softness of the warm bed; instead he was lying now on the hard, cold floor with a ripped blanket wrapped around the half of his body, from his head to his waistline. It seemed like if he had ripped the blanket as he slept, trying to get some oxygen… maybe that was why he had dreamed he was being suffocated.

He took apart the blanket and sat up in the floor for some seconds… that nightmare had made him awoken again, but this time it had seemed a lot more real than the other times. Suddenly, he felt his cheeks wet and brought his right hand to his face. Soon, he realized that he had some tears trailing down his cheeks. He stared at his soaked fingers in shock. This was the first time he cried because a dream, or in this case, a nightmare… why those nightmares tormented him whenever he fell asleep? Were those nightmares an advice about what was going to happen to Lilo? He didn't know it, but he didn't want to believe that those nightmares were going to become true.

As his respiration turned to its normal speed, he stared at the blanket in his hands. He had ripped completely the blanket that had been covering Lilo and himself. He thought on bringing another blanket, but then he would leave her alone, and that panicked him. What if something happened while he was absent? He looked at her again and tried to calm down… after all, what if she was okay while he was absent? Maybe he was worrying just too much and thinking about the worst, instead of thinking on the good things… but there was still the possibility about something bad could happen while his absence.

"_Well, I'm worrying too much about all this… Lilo__ has been strong always; she will be able to stand longer than what anyone else can believe. Why am I worrying so much?"_

Stitch tried to calm down, but he couldn't let aside the fact that something could happen to Lilo while he was gone, and felt like if he couldn't let her alone, but his hunger was growing more intense…

-Stitch!!! What's up? Are you alright?

The sluice opened, and then Pleackley came in. Stitch observed the tray on his hands, and then smelt the unmistakable aroma of bacon and some coffee. His stomach started to growl again, louder than the other times, like if trying to get Pleackley's attention. As Pleackley heard Stitch's stomach growling, he stepped back instinctively, thinking it was Stitch the one who had growled. Stitch noticed Pleackley stepping back and tried to calm him:

-Don't be afraid… Stitch just hungry —he assured as he pointed to his belly with his index finger.

-Oh, that's all… I thought you were about to… well, just to do some scary thing, you know…—Pleackley said as he put aside the tray on a near chair and turned the lights on —here, I brought some food in case Lilo was already awoken, but seems like she's not… you can eat some, if you're hungry. Oh my…!!! What happened on here???

Stitch looked at Pleackley's finger, pointing to the torn blanket on his hands and half of his body. Stitch shook his head as he held it with his hands:

-Stitch had nightmare… meega scared and ripped blanket… accidentally. I'm sorry.

Pleackley smiled sympathetically at Stitch and nodded:

-It's okay. Don't worry… after all you were just afraid. Hey, but you really scared me whit all those yells and screams!!! All what you said was "Lilo, please don't leave me!!!"… and other stuff.

Stitch started to blush as he heard Pleackley. What if he had said another thing while he was asleep?

-What else Stitch said??? Pleechiba… meega wants to know…

Pleackley seemed to think about it, and after some seconds he smiled (almost smirked) widely and continued:

-Well, I think you said "I love you!!!", "Lilo, da boojibu!!!", "Please don't leave me, boojibu" and "I'm in love with you" or something so. Why???

Stitch couldn't help but blush more intensely as he heard each sentence Pleackley said about what he had been shouting. Did he really have said those things? Stitch dropped his face, trying to avoid Pleackley's questioning face and trying to hide his flushed face, but to no avail: Pleackley had already realized that under Stitch's fur, his skin was turning into a deep magenta color (I don't know what his blushing could be like. Maybe if his blood is magenta, then his blushing might be magenta as well).

-G-gaba??? Stitch said, hum… all that? Really??? —Stitch asked. He felt how his cheeks were burning, and knew he couldn't hide it from Pleackley anymore, but even so he tried to deny it —Naga… Pleackley is wrong. Stitch didn't say all that… Stitch d-doesn't love L-Lilo… that way.

Pleackley smiled as he looked at Stitch's useless attempts to hide his true feelings. Stitch had gotten unusually nervous, and that was enough for him to confirm it:

-Oh, come on, Stitch… don't say you don't like her that way. It's too obvious you love Lilo more than just with a friendship love. Do you think I'm really that fool? Everybody around you could tell that you are in love with Lilo! Hah, what a curious thing: I said a little lie and you showed the whole truth because of that lie!!!

Pleackley covered his mouth quickly as he said the last sentence. Stitch frowned as he heard what Pleackley had just said. What did he meant with "a little lie"? Then it hit him: all what he thought he had said was lie!!!

-Grrrr, naga bootifa!!!! Pleackley lied!!!! Pleackley made Stitch scared!!!!! Stitch could have said all the tru…!!!!

Now Stitch was the one who had to cover his mouth with both of his hands before he said something he didn't want Pleackley to know. Pleackley just kept pushing on Stitch: he was decided to make him confess:

-Oh, come on, Stitch… yooou love her!!! —he said, using a lovey-dovey voice.

-No, I don't!!! —Stitch replied as he crossed his arms angrily.

-Yes, you do…

-No, I don't!!!

-Yes, you do!

-NO I DON'T!!!

-No, you don't…

-**YES, I DO!!!!!!!!!**

Stitch covered his mouth quickly and gave Pleackley a worried face. Pleackley just smiled more widely:

-I knew it…

-Naga fair!!! Pleackley tricked Stitch!!!

-But you know that's true…

Stitch growled and slapped his own face with one hand in frustration. Pleackley giggled at the sight of Stitch slapping his face in frustration, and then, another "great" idea came to his mind.

-Okay, Stitch, I'll trust you…

Stitch let out a relief huff, but before he could do or even think anything, Pleackley continued:

-…I'll trust you if you can say you don't love her that way while looking at my eye.

-Why should I?

-Because if you don't, then I'll know that you cannot deny it and that all what I'm saying is true. I dare you to tell it as you look at me, right at my eye.

Stitch looked at Pleackley with a burning glance of anger, but that didn't intimidated Pleackley, as Stitch was expecting it would.

-Well, I'm waiting for you, Stitch. Do you love her that way, or not?

Pleackley's eye stuck on Stitch's face. Stitch looked right at Pleackley's only eye. He thought it would be easy to deny it, but as he felt Pleackley's eye staring right into his eyes he felt weak. His knees started to tremble slightly, and a cold sweat flowed from his forehead… he wanted to deny it to Pleackley, but felt like if his mouth moved against his brain and wanted to tell the truth. They were so concentrated in intimidating each other that they didn't noticed the sluice opened, and another person walked in.

-Evil Genius has found finally a solution …

Both Stitch and Pleackley jumped in fright as the Russian accent filled the room, but it took them some seconds more to understand what Jumba had just said.

-That's so good, Jumba!!! Lilo is going to be finally safe and sound!!! YAY!!!!!! —Pleackley shouted joyfully as he hugged Jumba. Although Jumba was pretty tired after who knows how many hours of being awoken, he had enough strength to pull away Pleackley and his joyful hug.

-Huff!!! Please, stop this annoying act of wrapping arms around Evil Genius!!! —Jumba grumbled as he pulled away Pleackley.

Stitch just couldn't believe what he had just heard. FINALLY!!!!! Now, Lilo would wake up again and he could tell her just how much he loved her, how much he missed her and how he waited eagerly for having her locked in his arms again and showing her the love he felt for her, kissing her to no end and holding her close to him… finally…

-Come on, Stitch!!! Let's tell Nani the good news!!!!! —Pleackley shouted as he grabbed Stitch by his arm and carried him to home, no one of them noticing that Jumba hadn't still finished with the news, leaving him no more option but following them into the house. Soon, Stitch passed both of them and left them behind, finding that the good news had given him a strength he didn't know he had.

The poor old door was opened with such force it went flying away from its place. Stitch entered and fixed it as quickly as he could: he just placed the door aside and continued his way.

-Hey guys, calm down!!!! What is all that noise??? —Nani's annoyed voice went out from the bathroom. Stitch didn't even hesitate about entering the little bathroom. The following seconds the house was filled with every kind of shouts and screams:

-Ah chootah _(Gotta go)_!!!! Ika _(is)_…

-AAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! STITCH, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?????

-Oops… soka… bootifa underwear…

-You better didn't see anything… why did you entered here that way??? You could have at least knocked the door first!!!

-Emba chua _(you said it)_… soka… can Stitch open eyes now?

-Stitch, please go out now… I need to put something on!

-Oki-takka…

The door of the bathroom was opened again. Some steam went out along with Stitch, who had his paws covering his eyes. The door slammed closed and Stitch opened his eyes and rested his paws on his sides. _"Well, at least she had the towel"_ Stitch said to himself. He had caught Nani just when she was putting some clothes on, after taking a shower, and it wasn't something nice to catch Nani just after her shower… definitely, it wasn't nice!!!

After some minutes, Nani went out, already dressed. Jumba and Pleackley had just arrived and then Pleackley told Nani that Jumba had already found a solution for Lilo, but before she could process the information, Jumba decided to continue:

-That's being true. There's already a solution, but do not get too excited about it, because it may not work…

Everybody stared at Jumba with questioning glances, but he continued:

-Little Girl is needing certain amino acids and nucleic acids, but am not being able to just inject it, because her heart is damaged beyond measure, so she is needing to have a new heart… that wouldn't be a problem, because I would be making a new one for her with all the nucleic acids and amino acids she is needing. The problem is: the constructive process would be taking too long, and we are not knowing how long she will resist, which leads us to another option, faster, but harder to carry out: to find somebody who wants to donate a heart.

Everybody remained in complete silence. Nobody could say something. Everybody knew how hard was the single fact to find somebody who wanted to donate their own heart, even Stitch had learned now (by a TV program, but still) how hard was to find a donator…

-Jumba, exactly how long would it take you to make another heart for Lilo? —Nani asked with a whisper.

-Am thinking it would be taking about a week or longer, but am not thinking Little Girl would resist that long.

-But Jumba!!! Do you have any idea about how hard is to get a donator??? Lilo might die while we are trying to find one!!!

-Am being sorry, Bigger Girl, but it would be taking too long to make a new heart. It is not an easy thing!!!

-Then there's no hope for Lilo now… she's going to die anyway then —Nani dropped her face and sighed sadly, some tears of frustration and sadness streaming down her cheeks.

A soft whirr was heard, coming from the lift, but nobody realized that Stitch wasn't there anymore until they heard the lift whirring and saw that a certain blue furred, fluffy alien wasn't there anymore.

Finally, the lift reached the dome, and Stitch went out to enter the room. For the first time in almost two weeks, he lay on his cot and remained motionless. He had got so excited, so happy… but unfortunately happiness never lasts for too long. He could demand Jumba to make a new heart for Lilo and make him to stay awake during nights just to accelerate the process, but Jumba was quite tired now, and he needed to sleep at least twenty hours…

"_Once more, here's the powerful Experiment 626 with all his blitznac powers and abilities and else, but he cannot help his best friend in anyway… how am I supposed to find a donator??? Why everything has to get so difficult???" _Stitch thought as he hit his face against his arm _"If only I could do something to make her okay… anything…"_

Suddenly, a random flashback came to his mind:

_**FLASHBACK**_

_There he was again, at Jumba's spaceship in that cold, stormy night when it all began. He could see himself, sitting in a dark corner and taking her by her lifeless hand, crying as he stroked it, and then heard himself whispering something to the girl:_

_-Lilo… why you? All persons… why you? You are my friend, my boojibu… Stitch wished Stitch was on your place… Stitch would die without you. Please, don't leave Stitch alone… if you do, Stitch will die. Your love keeps Stitch alive… gives Stitch a reason to live… if only Stitch could do something… Stitch would give life only to keep yours here… Stitch would gladly die for you… because Stitch loves you… _

_**FLASHBACK ENDS**_

Then it hit him.

"_Stitch would give life only to keep yours here…"_

He stood up from his cot and then walked toward the window, but then he stopped and grabbed the blanket he had on his cot and then went out the dome. He climbed down and when he reached the ground, he started to walk to the spaceship. This was going to be his last night, and the last he could spend with Lilo, even if she was unconscious. Finally, he would be able to fulfill what he had told her that night… unfortunately he wasn't going to be there when she woke up, but at least his nightmares weren't going to come true…

**Well, what do you think of this one? Yeah, I know... "It was kinda large" but I was listening the soundtracks of the first movie and I just got so many ideas... well, I see now that Lilo's POV will be necessary. If I ended the story in this chapter, then I would've got a REALLY large chapter and... I don't want to make you tired Well, at least this will be the last week I'll have to go to school, and after it I'll be totally free to write more and do more art!!! YAYZ!!!!!! Hope you liked it, cousins**.


	4. Chapter 4

Well, before you start to read the last chapter, I wanna thank everybody who has been reading this story and reviewing. Your reviews make me to want to continue with my stories, and I feel realy happy when I'm told that you enjoyed the chapter or the story... well, I guess that's all for now. Enjoy!_**  
**_

_**BECAUSE OF LOVE**_

_Chapter 4_

"I can feel the sun stroking my face, and then the life comes back to my body. As I open my eyes and my vision becomes clear, I notice immediately that I'm not in the dome, as I normally would. I observe everything around the room, and my mind recognizes it as the bedroom inside Jumba's spaceship. Why am I here, instead of being in my warm bed up there in the dome? I can't remember anything from yesterday… my head aches whenever I try to remember anything… I don't have to worry; maybe my memory will come back to me in a few minutes. By now, I'm only interested in knowing what I am doing here. My feet slide off the bed, and by first time I notice the wires stuck to my wrists, arms and my legs, and some advanced machinery beside of the bed, as if it was monitoring each one of my moves. I freeze: why do I have all these wires stuck on my skin? Before my mind can formulate any other question, the old sluice opens, and after some seconds I can see Nani coming inside with a tray on her hands.

-Morning, Nani —I say sleepy, trying not to disconnect any of the wires off my limbs.

-Lilo… —Nani almost dropped the tray she had on her hands, as well as her jaw. Before I can learn what is happening, the tray is left in a near table night and she is holding me tight in her arms, almost suffocating me as she starts to cry —you're finally awoken… this is a miracle! Oh, thanks God… you're finally awoken, and you're not knocked out anymore… you don't know how long we were waiting for this…

-Nani, what are you talking about? You were waiting the whole night until I woke up? —my voice sounds with a touch of confusion mixed with some fear. I don't really know what she is talking about!

She looks at me with a worried glance —do you mean you don't remember anything before you passed out?

My head bends down slightly. She took it as a 'no'. She sighs and sits down in the bed, next to me. She seems worried about something, and seems to be afraid too about saying something she doesn't want me to know… or at least that's what I'm sensing about her…

-Lilo, you've been sleeping by 15 days until now.

My eyes grow wide —What????? 15 days????? I've missed a long time of school!!! What day is today?

-Saturday… but Lilo, that's not the matter… you were in a coma during all those days. You had a heart illness, you know? But fortunately, now you're okay because Jumba found a way to make you safe and sound. You were going to die, Lilo, but you're right here now!

-Wait a minute, Nani… I had a heart illness??? Was I going to die??? But how did I get that illness?

-Jumba says you might have felt too stressed about school. You had a high blood pressure and your stress level was too high for someone your age… several things that made you ill.

-But you said Jumba found a way to fix it. What was that?

Suddenly, my big sis' face turned from a serious face to a nervous one. I think I just asked something she doesn't want to tell me, and that makes her nervous. Finally, she remembered the answer to my question, and her face seemed to be easy again… for some seconds.

-Hum, Lilo… I… I don't really know what Jumba did… —she stutters —you know, he's an evil genius and I'm not, so I couldn't understand very well what he did… you better ask him later…

-But… —I plead.

-Oh, by the way, I brought you some food —she changes the issue quickly —you must be hungry after 15 days of starving, huh?

She hands me the tray quickly and offers me the food in it, consistent in toasts, two eggs with some bacon forming a silly smiley, some orange juice and gelatine. Even though I'm real hungry, there's something I want more than eating: to know why is she acting so weirdly. Only not to make her upset, I take a bite of bacon and a gulp of my orange juice, under the glance of my smiling sister. While I'm chewing, I start to remember some of the last night… or at least _my _last night. I remember I was crying, saddened because of something I can't remember now… then Stitch is the next I can remember…

Suddenly, the bacon skids down my throat, and I start to choke. Almost immediately, Nani takes me in her arms and starts to hit enough hard my back so I can spit out the piece of meat that is choking me. Finally, the bacon goes out my mouth and lands back in my plate, though it doesn't look like bacon anymore.

-Lilo, are you okay??? Be careful!!! I know you're hungry, but that doesn't excuse your way to gulp down your food like that!!! —she exclaims as I try to get my breath back.

-I'm sorry… —it's the only thing I can utter faintly. She didn't even hear me, but I don't really care. Then I decide to go back to my former thoughts. What was that?

-You're eating just like Stitch… —Nani whispers, somewhat sad.

Oh, yeah, I was thinking of him… I'm reliving again those images in my head, the images of that night. Well, at least there's no bacon now to choke with in my throat, so I can think of it more thoroughly… my mind gets filled with the images of when we were at the hammock, but unwillingly it goes ahead to the part when he pulled my head down to his and… well, when he kissed me. Every image and sensation from that night is coming to my mind right now… if it wasn't for I know where I am, I would think that I went back to the past and I'm living that moment again. Every part of my body is participating on reliving that moment; I can even feel again his lips pressed against mines, and I just want to go back to that moment and keep reviving that moment, when he held me tight and kissed me so tenderly…

Wait a minute, what am I doing? I'm acting just like if I were in love!!!! I cannot be in love with Stitch… he's just my best friend… but I cannot stop thinking about those moments in the hammock either. What if I fell in love with him, after all? Would it be that bad? Would it ever be bad? Well, now that I think about it, I have loved Stitch always more than just a friend or a brother… would that be romantic love? Maybe it is… I got unusually jealous when he got involved with Angel, when I was nine or so… maybe I started to feel something especial about him since then, but then why did I like Keoni? I guess I was afraid of accepting my true feelings about Stitch and that's why I always tried to make myself take a liking to Keoni, even if I knew that wasn't true love, just a stupid, childish crush… it should have changed when Stitch kissed me by first time when I was eleven. I knew that I loved him a lot more than just a friend, but I was such a coward… what should I do now?

-Lilo! Earth to Lilo, can you listen me???

I drop suddenly my fork and jump with fright as I hear my sister's voice. She broke me out of my thoughts… now I have to go back to real life…

-Huh? —I shake my head

-You know, I notice you very distracted… or thoughtful, I don't know… —she says quietly as she looks at me in a queer way.

-Hum, yeah… kinda… oh, by the way, where's Stitch? —I ask. I'm trying not to blush as I pronounce his name, but it's difficult not to blush with Nani's glance over me, and it gets even harder when all those memories are still in my mind, but to my surprise, she doesn't even notice my flushed cheeks nor my trembling knees and hands.

-Uh-oh, look what time is it!!! I'm going to get late for work!!! See you later Lilo!!! —she almost shouts as she kisses my cheek quickly and then gets out the room.

-Wait!!! —I shout, but she's already gone. Okay, now I have to do this on my own.

Slowly, my feet slide out the blanket and get to the floor. My legs feel like gelatine after fifteen days of slumber, but I can keep on my own feet. As I keep standing up, I feel a stinging pain in my chest, making me to groan, but after some quick seconds it soothes down. This is the first time I notice I'm in my pajamas, but it doesn't really matter. I can see that the clothes I used that night are hanging in a near hall-stand, and I just have to put them on. As I'm preparing to put my blouse on, I see a huge wound in the left side of my chest, and for some seconds I remain there astonished… that was why I felt the pain in my chest. The wound is about 5 inches or a bit more, and it looks like if somebody cut through my skin with a knife just like when you cut a piece of meat. It's a scary wound, one of those which leave horrifying scars in the skin, but after some minutes I manage to overcome my shock and I finally finish it off. I expect to see Jumba in the other room, but as I go out the bedroom I can see that there's nobody but me in the spaceship. When I get inside my house, I can see that nobody besides of Nani has awoken, or maybe everybody went out for shopping. Before I can know where I am, I find myself heading to the dome. Now I'm in the lift, and I'm hesitating whether pressing the button or not… I'm really nervous. I know that Stitch is probably still in his bed, but I'm really nervous… what will I tell to him? What will he say?

The lift is starting to rise, and I can't help but feel like if my legs couldn't stand my weight… I'm too nervous. The lift finally arrived and now I have to talk to Stitch… wait, he's not on his bed! That's quite odd for him… it's barely 8:00 a.m. and normally he wakes up at 10:00 a.m. or later… I don't think he went for shopping with Pleackley, that's sure… then where's him?

Well, I guess I can watch some TV while everybody wake up or come back form somewhere… I'll ask Pleackley or Jumba where's Stitch when they get here. Maybe he's with Jumba… hum, I'm still a bit tired… I know, I kept knocked out by 15 days, but I feel like if I need to have some rest… the TV ahead of me is getting blurry…

_**DREAM/FLASHBACK**_

"_It's already night, and I know exactly where I am. Around of me is a crowd of my classmates and other teenagers, dancing with the noisy music. I'm at the school's gym. Keoni is standing there, saying hello to all of his friends while my arm is hooked to his arm. I have dreamed about this since I was nine: Keoni taking me by the hand to dance. I can see all the other girls looking at me with envy, and I just cannot feel anything but sheer joy to be the lucky girl Keoni asked to have beside of him tonight. He smiles at me and then he takes me to the improvised dance floor. A slow melody starts, and then the lights dims, but before we start to dance, the doors wide open. Every boy inside turn their heads to see the girl who is stepping inside, even Keoni. Great, my perfect night is ruined. There she is… there is Kayla and her army of silly girls. _

_Her blonde hair is gathered together in a pony tail, adorned with some shiny hairclips, with only a thin, curly lock of hair dropping on her right eye, remarking the features of her angelic face. Her white, shiny dress has an aperture that allows everybody to see her back, as well as another aperture in the lower part of her dress, leaving exposed her right leg. I'd bet every boy here is now drooling because of her, and with good reason: she's the most beautiful girl in the school, if not the whole island. When she saw Keoni, she approached him with flirty eyes and practically shoved me aside to talk to him._

_-Keoni Jameson, what a surprise to see you here!!! —she said flirtatiously as she curled her hair with her finger, but then she noticed me and her tone changed to a mocking one —especially with such a dirty brat._

_Her friends laughed as she said the last words and stared at me with scorn. I could bear the fact she shoved me aside hardly, but when she called me like that, I felt all my anger burning through my veins and making the blood inside them to boil with rage, and the fact that her friends were scoffing about me made me even more angry._

_-Hey, look who are you calling dirty brat!!! —I said, trying to contain my anger. I didn't want to blow up as I used to when I was little._

_She looked back at me and laughed sarcastically —and why not? That's what you are: a little, dirty brat, besides of being weirdo. I cannot understand why Keoni wanted you to come with him to the party, I mean: you're so ugly! I bet he invited you because you're just pitiful, because you wouldn't get somebody by yourself to be your Valentine. I'm amazed to see how good he is. He's even pretending he likes you!_

_I looked at Keoni then, like looking for an answer. He did nothing nor said anything, just stared at us with an amused glance. He must be thinking we're kidding or something… why all boys are so stupid?_

_-Shut up!!! I'm not ugly, okay??? —I yelled. Everybody is looking at us now, and they seem to be having some entertainment with this discussion. If only I wasn't alone… if only Stitch was here…_

_-Yes, you are. If you weren't ugly, then why did your parents leave you? I bet you were so ugly that they preferred dying instead of having a daughter as ugly as you! How could they handle with you? I don't know. That's why they're dead: because of you and your weirdness and ugliness!!!_

_A loud gasp was heard in the gym, it seemed like even the music had halted. Everybody stared at me to see what my reaction would be._

_-That's NOT true!!! They loved me as much as I loved them!!! They died because an accident, not because of me!!!! —I said with tears in my eyes. What she had just said hurt me real badly. I knew I couldn't handle with this for too long…_

_-And what if they disguised it as an accident? The most likely is they committed suicide because they didn't want to have a daughter like you. They're dead because of you!!! _

_I wanted to punch her right on the face, but then I had a better idea. Her dress… it seemed to be one of those expensive dresses. I took a glass with some of the ice cream we had that night and drained the content on her beautiful dress. She screamed as she felt the contact of the icy cream, and then screamed again when she realized her beautiful dress was stained with chocolate, strawberry and other ice cream flavors. _

_I was about to rush out when I felt a hand grabbing me by my wrist, and turned my head angrily, ready to shout at that person to let me go, but when I twirled my head I saw Keoni's smiling face:_

_-Hey Lilo, you're really funny! I had seen before people tossing food at other persons, but this…!!!_

_-Keoni, don't take this the wrong way, but I don't want to be here with you anymore… I need to go home._

_-Oh, come on, Lilo!!! You're not going home now, right? I mean, she was just kidding you! Everybody was having fun!_

_-I was NOT, Keoni… what Kayla said hurt me beyond measure. Can't you understand that? Come on! Even you were laughing because all those stupid things she was saying, instead of defending me! I thought we were friends! We were supposed to spend a good time with each other tonight… if not, then why did you ask me out?_

_-Well… I don't know if it's a good idea saying this to you, but well… I asked you out because I needed someone to make Kayla approach me… if she saw I was alone, she wouldn't have asked me to dance with her because she would have wanted to have competition with some other girl. She's that kind of…_

_-Then you used me…_

_-I'm sorry, Lilo… I like you, I really do like you, but I wanted her to be my Valentine… not you. I just ask you not to take this the wrong way, I mean, we're friends after…_

_-How can you ask me not to take this the wrong way??? You used me!!! You're such a…!!! I'm going home right now…_

_-Lilo, please…_

_-I don't want to hear a thing about this anymore! I'm going home and that's all!!!_

_I didn't look back at him, at the school. I opened the huge doors and went out of the gym, and then out of the school. Kayla had said things that hurt me beyond of measure, but Keoni hurt me even more when he told me that he wasn't interested about me in the way I had thought. I ran across the school playground and then into the forest. It was dark and gloomy, but I wasn't afraid. I knew it very good. I had been here a lot of times when Stitch and I used to catch experiments, so I could ran inside of the forest even with my eyes closed. I let the tears run down my cheeks freely. I stumbled every time my body shook with my weeping, but always stood up and continued my way. _

_Finally, I arrived the front side of my house. Inside, the lights were turned on. I climbed upstairs to enter my house, but when I was about to open the door I remembered that Pleackley should be watching the TV at this hour. He always turned on the TV at this time to watch his program. That shouldn't have been a problem for me, because I had fooled him a lot of times, but I didn't feel like if I could fool him this time. It would be too obvious that something was wrong about me, and he would tell Nani about this, and I didn't want Nani to know about how Keoni hurt me tonight, because she had advised me several times not to go out with him, but I never listened… I didn't want to hear the typical 'I told you'… I needed to calm down at least a little so I could fool Pleackley just as the other times. Then my feet started running towards the backyard. _

_After some seconds, I was sitting in the hammock cross-legged as I stared at the bright stars above me. Then I remembered my parents, and what Kayla had said about them… I knew it wasn't true, but even so I felt guilt… I felt like if it was my fault they died, and then I started to cry, asking them to forgive me…_

_-Lilo?_

_I lifted my head when I heard that voice. I knew it was him… I felt relieved to know that Stitch was there. He was the only one I could talk to without being criticized nor scolded. He lifted his hand and dried a tear off my cheek. Without thinking about it, I took his hand too… it was warm and soft, especially because I knew he was trying to comfort me, though he didn't know why I was crying. I let out all my anger and sadness with him. He just listened at the non-sense things I was saying, paying attention as if it was important. From time to time, he diverted his head aside; I guess he needed to process what I was saying. When I finished, he talked to me, comforting me… he said that I wasn't pretty, but I was beautiful. I remember I felt like if I wanted to blush, but I controlled my feelings and diverted my eyes aside as well as him, but he took my chin between his fingers so I looked him right at his eyes. I felt something weird when I stared into his eyes… something I had never felt. We talked a bit more, and then he said he had a better way to make me feel comforted. I thought he was going to do some of those silly things he usually does to cheer me up, so I let him free… the next thing I knew was he had his lips upon mines. He was kissing me tenderly, like trying to erase with his lips all my pain, and I didn't stop him. Just when I thought everything was going perfectly, I felt a stinging pain in my chest… I pulled him away and then I dropped in the hammock…"_

_**DREAM/FLASHBACK ENDS**_

I wake up. Finally, I remember what happened that night. I can remember everything now… I have to talk to Stitch now.

Then the door opens. Jumba and Pleackley come in, Pleackley wearing his wig and dress and Jumba using his Hawaiian shirt and his shorts.

-Hi guys —I greet them. Both of them freeze as they look at the one who just talked… me.

-Oh, Lilo's awoken now! That's just a miracle!!! —Pleackley shouts as he drops his groceries bags. Jumba is smiling widely now. I can see that both of them are really happy about having me back… I try to search for my little friend behind of them, but I cannot see him.

-Hum, Jumba, where's Stitch? —I ask confused. Both Jumba and Pleackley's smiles disappear at the moment I mention Stitch's name, and their glances change too.

-Hum, heheh, you know Lilo… it's kinda difficult to explain, but Stitch… well… err… —Pleackley stutters. I cannot understand anything.

-Be shutting up, walking noodle! —Jumba whispers a bit annoyed at Pleackley. Then he turns his head to look at me, and then he beckons me to follow him. I do, with Pleackley going right behind of me, following my steps. Finally, we arrive Jumba and Pleackley's room.

-Be waiting a bit more, Little Girl… am looking for the letter 626 left for you.

I freeze as I hear the mention of a letter —a letter? Stitch can barely talk in English. How could he write a letter for me? And why? —then I feel a cold chill running down my spine… I haven't a good feeling about this —Jumba? Where's Stitch?

-Am thinking it's better for you to be reading letter first, Little Girl…

-Jumba… what's going on? I really need to know what's going on…

I feel my knees trembling, and my forehead is now wet with some sweat… Jumba just sighs, and then he starts to tell me everything… well, almost everything.

_**FLASHBACK**_

"_The morning of the tenth day finally broke. Stitch opened his eyes and stretched under the blanket as he felt the sun on his face, then turned his head to see a sleeping Lilo beside of him… though he knew she wasn't precisely asleep. Today was the day._

_He stood up. He needed to tell Lilo why he wouldn't be there when she woke up, but he could speak only one language fluently: Turian… nobody there beside of him knew Turian… nobody but Jumba. "No, I would delay a lot if I asked Jumba to translate it for me" he thought and shook the idea off his mind. What else could he do? "The computer!!! Jumba's computer!!!" Stitch was hit by that idea. The computer would translate from Turian to English while he was still writing his letter… the only way he could use to tell Lilo the reason he wouldn't be there. _

_He looked at the digital clock on the night table. It read barely 6:30 a.m. He had still plenty time until his whole family woke up to tell them his decision… until then, he could use his time to write a letter for Lilo. Without missing even a second, he headed to Jumba's desk and grabbed the little laptop and turned it on while he walked back to the bed to be with Lilo. He sat down on the bed and let his fingers lingering in the keyboard, erasing from time to time a sentence or a word to replace it by another one which would describe better what he meant. _

_The minutes passed, turning into hours, and finally he finished his work and pressed the 'translate to English' button. Then all the symbols and confusing words turned into clear words in unmistakable English. Finally, he printed his work and looked at the clock again. Now it read 9:37 a.m. and surely everybody was awoken now. He placed the letter on the night table. He jumped to his feet and then headed to the Pelekai house. There's no needing of telling the kind of comments he received when he told them what he wanted to do. 'Stitch, are you lolo?', 'But Stitch! Have you thought what Lilo will feel when she realizes that you aren't here anymore?' and 'Are you being sure of doing this, 626?' were the first words he received just after he told them, but nothing and nobody was going to make him think different. He had made his decision, and had already convinced Jumba to do it, no matter how painful it resulted for him…_

_Stitch lay down in a surgery stretcher now, with Lilo beside of him on another stretcher, several wires stuck to her wrists. He barely felt the shot of the syringe in his arm… yeah, it had been a little bit painful, but that was nothing compared with the overwhelming joy of knowing that he was going to repay Lilo all what she had done for him along all those years with his own life, giving her his heart not only figuratively, but in real life too. His eyelids started to feel heavy… he felt drowsy now…_

_-Do not be worrying, 626. Everything will be ending soon —Jumba said with tears on his eyes. This was going to be the way his Experiment 626 would die, the best among all the others experiments. He wasn't going to die battling or fighting, as he had always thought, but he was going to die because the girl he loved the most. He was going to die just because of Love._

_-Thank you, Jumba —Stitch whispered as the anesthesia entered his bloodstream, but before Jumba walked away to look for his tools, Stitch grabbed him a last time by his white coat —When Lilo wakes up, tell her… that I love her._

_Stitch dropped Jumba's coat to let him go. Jumba walked away and started to look for the adequate tools he should use. Weakly, Stitch looked for Lilo's hand with his own hand. When he reached it, he squeezed it weakly and smiled at Lilo, who lay unconscious in the other stretcher. Big tears of both joy and sadness inundated his eyes as he squeezed his hand more tightly. He never thought this would be the way he died, but even so he liked the way this was going to end: beside of Lilo… his boojibu. With the last of his strength and awareness, he made a last effort to pull his stretcher close to hers, and when he was enough close to her, he barely could make his lips to brush against hers, in a last, tender kiss, as he caressed her cheek with his free hand. Finally, all his strength went away and he had to lie back on his own stretcher, still looking at Lilo, wanting her to be the last person his eyes saw. Then his eyelids fell upon his eyes and fell asleep not to wake up again… to keep his eyes closed forever now." _

_**FLASHBACK ENDS**_

Now I'm in the dome, hesitating about opening the letter. I know there's something I don't want to know about, though I don't know exactly what is it. Finally, I gather all my courage and open the letter. My eyes land on the paper as they start to read it:

"_My dearest Lilo_

_By the time you're reading my letter, you must've noticed that I'm not around home, and you might be wondering too why I'm not with you after 15 days of being practically in coma… well, before I start to explain you why I'm not there with you, I must confess you some other things about some feelings I started to have since a long time ago…_

_Do you remember that little adventure we had six years ago, when we were kids? When you were helping me to make Angel jealous just because I had the silly thought that she was dating somebody else? Well, there are just so many things I regret about what I did during that adventure… I should have never said certain things to Angel… I should have never treated her the way I did… I should have never left you alone for so long because for my relationship with her and then use you to make her jealous just because of my selfish purposes… those and other things are several of the mistakes I made, but there's something among all those mistakes I don't regret, and I think it's the second best thing that happened to me after meeting you, and that second best thing is the kiss I stole from you. I don't know what you felt, but I want you to know what I felt… true is that I had never felt anything like that feeling I got while we were kissing, something that not even Angel had made me feel when I thought I was in love with her… I don't know how to describe it, I'm not good at describing things that detailed, but I certainly can say that I felt like if my eyes opened by first time in my life. I didn't know then what was that I felt in those moments, but now I know that that I felt was love…sheer and true love for you. I had always felt something especial about you since we were little, but I never knew what it was. I thought it was totally normal, so I never told you about my feelings, but now I can see that the love I felt for you had been always beyond of friendship love. That's why I always felt extremely disappointed when you disapproved some thing I did, such as when you didn't want me near from you when I had my glitch; the jealousy I felt whenever I thought you were paying more attention to any experiment, such like Finder or Mr. Stenchy, instead of me, even if I knew that you loved me more than all of them together. That's why I always tried to do good, heroic things, to show you all that I was able to do just because of you… I had never wondered about why I did all those things with nobody besides of you until I kissed you. Yeah, I know, I had felt jealous about Angel then, but you know that I'm too possessive when I get something, but had you ever noticed the way I wanted to protect you, and especially you? Even if I knew that the things you wanted to do were wrong, I was always there to protect that little girl from anything... but the little girl grew older, and turned into a teenager, somebody I couldn't protect as well as when she was little, because needed her own space now. _

_When you started to be absent from home because school stuff and other things, I felt the same you felt when I was with Angel: loneliness and nostalgia about the old times when there was only me and you and no other thing mattered. I had always feared that someone or something snatched me away from you and your love. That's the reason I always felt jealous whenever you paid more attention to any experiment, and that's why I never liked Keoni, because I knew he could take you away from me… and that you wouldn't complain about it. _

_Now imagine what I felt when I found out that Keoni Jameson wanted to take my friend away. I can't say that I expected you to reject him, because I knew that since you were a kid you liked him, but I felt like if I was crashed into pieces whenever you talked about going out with him, going to the movies, going to the beach… all the things I had done formerly with you. I felt he was going to replace me in your life… that nothing was going to be again the same about us, just when I had arranged my confusing thoughts about you, after six years of trying to understand what was that I felt when I kissed you… and just when I could finally understand my feelings, Keoni took you away from me. Every hope was lost for me… or at least that's what I thought._

_That night you went to the Valentine's Day Ball with Keoni, I was wondering again about all those things I've already told you in my letter, but I'm so glad that not every hope was lost… when I found you crying on the hammock, I knew immediately that something had went wrong. You cannot even imagine the rage I felt when you said it had been Keoni the one who hurt you the most… I just wanted to toss him to the sea and not seeing him alive again here! But then I understood that if Keoni wasn't the one for you, then there was still a little hope for me… that's why I kissed you. I wanted to know by the way you acted if you loved me the same way. When you kissed me back, I felt the joy overwhelmed me to see that you loved me that same way. I realized about it just because the way you kissed me… it was enough for me to know that you were in love with me as well as I am with you._

_Well, now I have to explain you why I'm not there with you. While we were still kissing, you pulled me away and then you passed out. I got worried about you and brought you to Jumba, hoping that everything was okay with you, but then he told me the bad new. You were going to die unless he found a solution for you, but when he found it, it was too late to carry it out, so the another solution was finding somebody who wanted to donate a heart. I'm sure you know how hard is to find somebody who wants to donate a heart, so everybody thought you were going to die irremediably. While you were knocked out, I told you so many things… I remember I told you I would give my life to keep yours here, and then it hit me… while you're reading this, a strong heart is beating inside your chest, telling you with each beat how much I loved you and still do in the after-life…"_

I gasp loudly as I read the last part. I cannot believe this… no, he's not dead… no…

I read that last paragraph one and other time, and still cannot believe it.

With the letter still in my hand and tears starting to form in my eyes, I run off to a place I hadn't visited by years. I know he's probably there, in that same place. There was an empty spot beside of my parents' graves, and Nani must have wanted to bury him there, beside of them. Finally, I arrive the old graveyard where my parents were buried. Even though the place where they were buried is far away from the entrance, my feet carry me so fast that I reach it in a matter of minutes. I should be gasping for air now because of my dash, but I don't feel even tired. The speed of my feet decreases as I approach the graves of my parents, and I whisper an inaudible 'hello' to them. Then my eyes go to the formerly empty spot of soil. There's a new headstone there, and even though I haven't read it, I know this is Stitch's grave. I approach it slowly, like not wanting it at all, but now I'm right in front of the headstone, and start to read what it reads:

"_To our beloved_

_STITCH PELEKAI_

_Intergalactic hero, _

_Friend and Ohana_

_2002-2012_

_Rest In Peace_

_We will love _

_you always"_

Now I cannot stop the tears. They're running down my cheeks freely, and I won't try to stop them. Then I lower my eyes and see a very well-known thing, and I lift it from the dusty ground. It's the tiki-necklace I gave him before he left to command the BRB several years ago, and then I look back at his grave. Then I remember I didn't finish reading the letter, still in my hand. I open it again and decide to finish reading:

"…_I give you my heart and my whole life too. Use them as you think is the correct way, my love. I'm sorry I couldn't say 'good-bye' while you were still conscious… but don't __be sad, after all it shouldn't be a 'good-bye' instead it should be a 'see you later', because you know? We will meet each other one day. We will have a party up here when your time comes, and we will see each other again and embrace again…I will be waiting for you until then. I love you._

_Yours,_

_Stitch_"

I close the paper piece and then look up at the cloudy sky. It seems gray and sad, but suddenly, some clouds divide, letting a beam of sunlight through. I don't know why, but the sunbeam seems to be falling only upon me. I start to imagine that this sunbeam is sent by Stitch, like if he opened a window in the clouds, but that would sound silly if I tell it to anyone. Without even thinking about it, my lips start to move as I sing my farewells to Stitch:

"Aloha 'Oe, Aloha 'Oe

'E ke ona ona noho, i ka lipo

One fond embrace, a ho 'i a 'e au

Until we meet again… until we meet… again."

A soft breeze coming from nowhere makes the top of the trees to move, and then some flowers from a near tree fall right ahead of me. Then that same breeze caresses my face and dries away the tears I had in my cheek… if only Stitch was the one who is drying my tears away…"

Lilo stood up, feeling in a strange way that she wasn't alone at all… and in fact she wasn't alone. She gave the grave a last glance and then looked at the tiki-necklace, resting on her hand. She pressed it against her chest as some other tears dropped to the ground and then she placed the necklace gently on the headstone. After some minutes, she walked away to go home.

Stitch looked at Lilo while she walked away. He wished he could follow her, but it would be to no avail. She couldn't see him, and he couldn't touch her directly. He had needed to use the sea breeze to dry away the tears she had on her face. Besides, he had been given permission to be on Earth only until Lilo read his letter, and he knew he had to go now. The bright sunbeam that illuminated Lilo some seconds ago was falling upon him now, and as it illuminated him, he started to disappear. Before he was totally gone, he could barely pronounce some last words:

-Until we meet again… boojibu.

**Well, it didn't end as tragic as I would have wished... I'm not used still to be mean at Stitch or Lilo, so let me get used. I hope in future stories I'll do it better...**

**I'm already working on a new story, in case you wanna give it a read. It's name is 'If I never met you'. I'll make a bit detailed summary:**

** The story takes place six years after the Leroys' events. Lilo is already a teenager, and lives comfortingly along with Stitch and all her ohana. Her life is practically perfect, but there's something that still makes her sad: she never overcame her parents' deaths, and one night, while she's about to fall asleep, she says she wished her parents were still alive because her life isn't full without them, but unknown for her, Stitch overhears her wish, and then he feels so bad about his friend that decides to take the old time surfboard that Jumba made. He travels to the past and saves Lilo's parents from a certain death... no, this story isn't going to be like the other traveling-through-time stories, because when he somes back, everything is still just as he left. Jumba explains him that the changes that are going to happen are going to be slow, making that Lilo's parents appear eventually, and that's exactly what happens: they appear in the Pelekai house one morning from nowhere. Stitch is happy when he sees that Lilo is happy about her parents' return, but what he doesn't know is that the slow changes Jumba talked about are still happening, making him to forget slowly his past with a younger Lilo, making him eventually to become what he would have become originally if he never met Lilo: some king of gangster or hooligan. Well, that's all what I'll tell you about the story. I was going to update the first chapter the same day I updated the last of 'BOL', but at last minute I had an idea that would fit better for the first chapter, so probably I'll update the first chapter until next week, wednesday or Thursday for sure. Thanks!  
**


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